


we're all mad here

by sapphicsasquatch



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alice In Wonderland AU, Alternate Universe - Alice in Wonderland Fusion, Gen, Wonder Falls AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-13 03:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5693653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicsasquatch/pseuds/sapphicsasquatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>curiouser and curiouser.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. gsv yvtrmmrmt

**Author's Note:**

> just a few notes before the story:
> 
> \- this story takes place in an alternate universe in which dipper and mabel live with their parents in piedmont, as the town gravity falls does not exist. thus, they have never met bill, blendin, candy, grenda, stan, etc.
> 
> \- as far as i am aware the plot of the original wonder falls au follows the same storyline as book- this story does not, though all the characters do fill in a specific role from said book (dipper and mabel share the role of alice kingsley, for example). this story will contain events that correspond to the tv series, though will have an overarching storyline of its own.
> 
> \- while this story is very centered around friendship, there will be a bit of romance- fiddlestan, mabcifica, and whatever-you-call-soos-and-melody. soos and melody is pretty blatant in this story since it is canon, there's only a few moments of fiddlestan but i don't think anything big will come of it, but mabcifica (despite not being canon) will be pretty prevalent in later chapters when we actually meet pacifica.
> 
> edit: changed the publication date since i just rewrote half of it and got rid of some. the next chapter will be up soon, and will contain the bits i got rid of and a lot more!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which blendin has rabbit ears.

Dipper was beginning to get very tired of sitting by his sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do. Their parents had ordered them outside in order to get some fresh air- and much to Dipper's dismay, his DS had been yanked right out of his hands. He had managed to grab one of his favorite books- the first _Sibling Brothers_ novel- off of the coffee table before getting shoved out, but it was hard to concentrate on the book with the babbling of both Mabel and the brook constantly interrupting his stream of thought. Not to mention that the rough blades of grass surrounding him were scratching at his legs and lower back, and he was pretty sure he could feel an ant crawling up his shorts.

  
“...and everything was going really great, but then I remembered Waddles and I was like, ' _hey, do you like pigs_ '? Because if we're gonna get married and live together in a fancy mansion with a dolphin moat and Waddles and Waddles Jr., then he'd better like pigs! And he was like ' _uh..._ ', and I was like ' _what, you don't like pigs_ '? Because who doesn't love pigs, right? But then he said that pigs were gross! Which is so not true because Waddles bathes regularly, don't you Waddles?” Mabel scratched her pig behind the ears affectionately. Waddles snorted. “And I told him that, and then he said that I'm _weird_ for keeping a pig for a pet! So I kind of ditched him.” Mabel sighed dramatically, blowing curly strands of chestnut brown hair out of her face. "And he said he liked my sweater, too."

Dipper looked up from his battered book, brow furrowing as his mind raced to catch up. “Okay, hold up. First of all- dolphin moat?”

He received a shrug in reply, and Dipper sighed. “Alright. Second of all- Waddles Jr.?”

Mabel puffed out her sweater-clad chest. “I'll have you know that Waddles is very handsome by pig standards! And we're both way charming. He might get married before me!”

Dipper cocked an eyebrow at the pig, who's blank, cross-eyed gaze was fixated on something- probably a butterfly- in the distance. “If you say so."

As Mabel continued chattering away, Dipper reverted his attention back to his book, mumbling under his breath as he read.

After a few minutes, he noticed that Mabel has stopped talking. Looking up, he saw that his sister had turned around, an expression of confusion on her face. Dipper followed her gaze just in time to see a stout man zip- or rather, _hop_ \- right past them, his head bald despite his youthful appearance. Only... it couldn't a man, or at least not completely. People nowadays didn't don Victorian waistcoasts or carry around pocket-watches, and they certainly didn't have long, soft-looking white rabbit ears sprouting from their heads or silvery whiskers from their small, twitchy pink rabbit noses, or fluffy white cottontails poking out of holes in their shirts. Dipper felt his jaw drop slightly, and a quick look at his sister beside him confirmed that the same had happened to her.

His grip on his book went slack, and it fell to the ground, unnoticed. Scrambling to his feet at the same time as his sister, Dipper heard someone- himself, he realized- exclaim, "Who _was_ that?" at the same time as Mabel yelled, 'Waddles!". Dipper suddenly noticed that the pink pig had taken off after the strange man- surprisingly quickly, too- like a cat after a mouse.

The twins looked at each other, hazel eyes wide, then took off at once. Dipper wasn't the most athletic of preteens, but he willed his noodle-like limbs to carry him faster. Mabel, the stronger of the two, pulled a few feet ahead of Dipper with ease. “C'mon, slowpoke!” She said, before grabbing his arm and yanking him forward. He stumbled and almost tripped, but Mabel's grip on his arm held him upright and soon they were running side-by-side.

Soon, the sounds of Dipper's own frantic breathing and pounding footsteps joined those he could hear of the rabbit-man up ahead, who also seemed to be muttering something under his breath. “W-was that...” He panted, struggling to keep up. “Did he... did I imagine that? What was he- _it_ \- a mutant? He had _actual_ rabbit ears!"

Mabel frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe they were fake or something, like a headband.”

“And a tail,” Dipper continued, ignoring his sister as he took in a gulp of air. “And a nose. And he was... _hopping_.”

“An evil spell, maybe?” suggested Mabel, waggling her fingers. Ever since Dipper was young, he'd always held an odd fascination with the supernatural. Sure, Mabel believed in that stuff, too, but that didn't mean she couldn't tease him about it every once in a while. “Did he steal something from a witch? _Ooh_ , or maybe he broke her heart and she took revenge!"

Dipper managed to shake his head as he felt himself slow down. Mabel slowed her pace a bit too, and he could tell even she was getting out of breath. “We're getting close,” she said, and as Dipper looked around at the pine trees looming above and blurring past, the uneven dirt ground littered with paper-thin leaves and brittle twigs underneath his feet, he realized just how far into the forest they had come. _It's too dangerous out here._ “Maybe we should just go back,” he suggested warily, skidding to a stop.

Mabel nearly tripped, and she turned around. “But _Waddles_!” She said, gesturing frantically to where Dipper could make out the pig, still pursuing the half-man-half-rabbit creature. “C'mon, Dipper, _please_? Don't you want to know why there's some sort of rabbit mutant running around in the woods dressed like he's from the 1800s?"

Dipper, bent over and panting, allowed himself to catch his breath before straightening up. “Not really."

Mabel looked at him for a moment, pleadingly. Two moments. Three moments. Four.

Dipper sighed. " _Fine_ ,” He grumbled. “But just a few more minutes, if he doesn't stop even then, we're heading back home.”

Mabel agreed, but not without a frown. They started up again, though Waddles was now barely a pink splotch in the distance- that pig could run when he wanted to, Dipper gave him that. Mabel, a few feet ahead of him, started to track Waddles' hoof-prints in the dirt. The tracks lead them to a hill, which they clambered up as quickly as they could. Upon reaching the top they saw Waddles and the rabbit man half a block's distance away- they were now closer then ever. The twins ran down the hill, and Mabel began to call out Waddles' name, though neither the swine nor the bald rabbit-man seemed to hear.

Dipper was focused solely on the rabbit man, who's long ears and fluffy tail were twitching erratically, and nearly didn't notice where it was headed. Almost.

He skidded to a stop at the same time as Mabel. “Is that... a _rabbit hole_?” He said, his voice muddled with confusion.

And it was. A large rabbit hole- big enough for a person to fit through, big enough that it had to have been man-made, though that raised the question of why someone would dig a giant hole into the side of a hill in the midst of a forest. But no matter the circumstances of its' creation, the rabbit man was headed straight towards it, along with Waddles.

They just stood there, slack-jawed- not the best thing to do, in hindsight- watching with an odd sense of curiosity as the rabbit man reached the hole- and, without pausing for even a millisecond- dived right in headfirst. Waddles followed a second after, sailing right through the hole, his little piggy legs outstretched.

That prompted Mabel to begin to run, dodging around trees and rocks. “Waddles!” She yelled. “Dipper, come on!"

Dipper was still in a bit of a shock about this whole situation, but followed, albeit a bit more slowly. It was only a minute before he arrived at the hill, maybe ten seconds behind his sister. Standing beside Mabel, he approached the hole warily.

"I..." Mabel said, her normally cheerful face blank. "I can't see them." Dipper looked to the hole. _Yep, just pure darkness,_ he decided.

It was pitch black, a black hole amongst the vibrant green grass adorning the side of the hill. The closer Dipper got to it the more he could feel a cool breeze emitting from the tunnel, carrying a foreign scent- or scents- that he couldn't quite place, and an odd whispering noise that grew quieter the more he tried to listen. A quick glance at Mabel told him that she heard and felt it, too. Oddly enough, that didn't make Dipper feel all that much better. _Who would bother digging a giant hole into the side of a hill?_   He wondered. And, in a flash of confidence (or rather, stupidity), he stuck his hand straight in.

Two things happened.

Dipper felt his whole body being pulled into the hole by an invisible force, and he let out a high-pitched scream, his voice cracking. It was like the world had rotated and the side of the hill was now the ground beneath him, and gravity was pulling him into it with all its might. Even as he pulled his head backwards as far as his neck would allow, the hole was so big he was forced to stare into it, into the infinite, never-ending blackness.

For the first millisecond he was terrified.

But then there was a somebody- Mabel, he realized- latching onto his legs and preventing his body from falling in. He hung in midair for a moment, uselessly stuck, before Mabel attempted to wrench him out. He felt himself fly up- no, backwards, he reminded himself- away from the hole, and just before he fell back in Mabel wrapped her arms around his midsection and, twisting her own body, yanked the both of them away from the hole.

Dipper, having closed his eyes sometime during the whole ordeal, cautiously opened them. He was lying on the ground, a meter away from the hole. And Mabel...

The brown-haired boy looked to his side and, much to his relief, Mabel was sitting beside him, looking a bit worse for wear but otherwise alright.

"Oh my gosh, _Mabel_!" Dipper exclaimed, scrambling to his feet, swaying a bit as he stood. "Are you okay?"

Mabel nodded, and within a moment a big grin was on her face, though her exhaustion was still evident. "Don't worry, bro-bro, I'm okay!" She stood with relative ease, dusting off her hands and her home-made sweater. Then, her grin dissipated. "Though I'm not so sure about Waddles..."

"Mabel, look..." Dipper sighed. "I know you cared a lot about Waddles, but that _thing_ -" He gestured vaguely to the rabbit hole. "Isn't safe. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't saved me? Look, let's just go home. We can call an animal rescue team or something, okay? But he's probably gone."

Mabel remained silent, a frown tugging at her lips as stared at the hole pensively. She then slowly looked at Dipper. "Maybe he's not gone..." She said, her voice uncharacteristically small.

Dipper was quiet for a few moments. Then, realization hit. "Mabel, _no_." He said immediately, his shoulders tensing up. "Mabel, you can't, it's way too dangerous! Look, let's just go back, please?"

Silence.

"It could be a tunnel, maybe he came out the other side. Let's go check." Dipper tried to sound hopeful.

Nothing.

Dipper sighed. "Do you have any food or anything you could use to tempt him out with, or a flashlight?"

Mabel blinked. Then, in one fluid motion, she dove right in, head first.

"Whoa, Mabel!" Dipper felt himself fill with adrenaline, and within a second he had lunged forward and clumsily latched onto Mabel's waist- luckily, she wasn't nearly as close to the hole as he had been. Dipper began to tug and try and pull her out, though he found himself sweating heavily while doing so. "Mabel, what are you doing? It's just Waddles, he'll be fine!" Gritting his teeth, Dipper held on tight then suddenly turned around, throwing him and Mabel away from the rabbit hole. Panting, he let go of Mabel and bent his knees slightly, catching his breath.

"Dipper, I can't believe you! You're always researching cryptids and local legends and ancient spells and hoodoo and all that, but the moment you find a real anomaly you want to run away!" Mabel was looking at Dipper intently, arms crossed and hair disheveled (though Dipper doubted his looked any better).

"An anomaly?"

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Dipper, seriously? This thing's like a black hole or a vortex or something! You saw it, it almost sucked you in! It's like gravity just fell!"

"It is... pretty weird," Dipper admitted, standing up. "There's something going on with the gravity, alright- but it's just too dangerous."

"Dipper, don't you see what's happening here?" Mabel exclaimed, throwing up her hands dramatically. "Waddles ran after that guy for a reason- we were meant to find this thing! We were meant to explore it!"

"And what if it's just a bottomless pit?" argued Dipper, crossing his arms. "What if we just keep falling and falling and falling for all of eternity and never stop?"

Mabel was silent for a moment. Then, she turned towards the rabbit hole. "Well, I'm going in." She said firmly. "With or without you. Waddles needs me."

"You can't do that!" Dipper protested, stepping forward. "You could- you could-" He sighed. "You realize that you could die, right? Like, actually die. It's not safe in there."

Mabel shrugged. "Well, I'm going. Are you coming?"

Exactly fifteen seconds later, Dipper groaned. "You realize that this will be incredibly dangerous, right?"

"Yep!"

"And that we could die."

"Yep!"

"And that we're probably not going to be home before supper?"

"Yep!"

Dipper sighed. "Alright, just making sure." He turned towards the hole, trying to tense up his shaky limbs . “Alright, brace yourself. Let's jump in together, alright?” He announced. “One,”

“Two,” she said, linking their arms together.

" _Three_!” They chorused, before diving into the hole.

And then, they tumbled through a pit of darkness.


	2. wldm gsv izyyrg slov

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which they change clothes for no reason.

Dipper screwed his eyes shut and let out a shrill, embarrassing scream for exactly five whole seconds- then as his scream died off awkwardly, he hesitantly opened his eyes.

Their surroundings were cloaked in pure darkness, yet he could see Mabel- long brown curls flapping above, looking as bewildered as he- beside him, clear as day. Dipper could feel a cool breeze- the same one he felt at the mouth of the hole- whipping through his clothes, and he made sure to tug down the brown cap on top of his head, but he didn't feel like he was falling- more like...

_Floating._

“This is... not as terrifying as I thought it'd be,” Dipper noted, mostly to himself. He could sense walls surrounding them, but as he stretched out the fingertips of his free hand- he and Mabel were still interlocking arms, and he didn't feel quite safe enough to let go- and reached out, he felt nothing.

“What is this place?” wondered Mabel, twisting her head this way and that to peer around the tunnel they seemed to be in.

“I don't know, but I don't like it.” Dipper looked above, squinting to see if he could see the hole they had fallen through- he was so focused he didn't notice Mabel's arm slip out of his until he heard her let out a gasp further away from him.

“Mabel!” Dipper, startled, looked back down quick as a whip- darkness. He looked back up and saw his sister floating a few feet away from him, giggling and spinning throughout the air.

Mabel looked at her brother, her face split into a brace-filled grin. “Dipper, this is so cool! It's just like swimming!” Giggling again, she rolled over in mid-air gleefully and made a scooping motion with her hands, propelling herself through the air lightly.

Dipper sighed, brow furrowed. “Mabel, be careful, will you? We don't know where we are, or what this thing even is, or where it leads to-”

“Dipper, you worry too much!” Mabel twisted, pushing herself towards her brother.

“And, what, you're not worried at all?” The boy was skeptical.

Mabel rolled her eyes, blowing a raspberry. “ _Pfft_ , I'm sure we'll be fine!” _You didn't answer the question._

Cocking an eyebrow, Dipper shook his head. “Well, I'm going to keep watch.” Crossing his arms, he reclined in mid-air with surprising ease.

 

A few minutes passed. Nothing but infinite darkness, the soft whistling of the wind carrying whispers of carnival-like music and faraway voices, and Mabel giggling in delight as she spun in cartwheels around the tunnel.

A few more minutes passed. Despite himself, Dipper stifled a yawn. He stole a glance at Mabel. How was she not bored yet?

Ten minutes. Dipper wished that he hadn't dropped his book.

After around fifteen minutes of waiting, Dipper found his eyes drifting shut. The invisible walls surrounding them now seemed almost comforting, and the breeze cradling him was warm and soft, the imperceptible music and voices now a soothing ambience. “ _I'm going to..._ ” He murmured, unable to finish his sentence before his face became heavy and his movements slowed. Just for a few minutes...

“Dipper, look!” Groaning, Dipper's eyes automatically snapped open as he felt Mabel latch onto his arm, and he saw her point at the walls with her free hand- “Cupboards and bookshelves!” Blinking, Dipper looked around, and Mabel was right. Wooden cupboards with random ingredients poking out and small bookshelves lined with colourful books were now surrounding them, maps from all sorts of places pinned up to cover any bare space.

Dipper noticed that they were falling slower, now, and he could see the maps and the cupboards, and as he flew past a bookshelf he reached forward and plucked out a random one. The bright blue spine read ' _Nzgrmt Irgfzoh lu Wlwl Yriwh_ ' in curly, whimsical gold handwriting. _Total gibberish_. “Nope,” He said, tossing it over his shoulder and watching in amazement as it disappeared above them.

Mabel pushed herself through the air and reached into an open cupboard before it flew past. “Maple syrup!” She beamed, holding a dusty-looking bottle in her hand. She opened it and turned it upside down eagerly, aiming for her mouth.

Nothing came out. “Empty,” She said in disappointment, flinging it away.

A few more minutes passed, and Dipper gave up on trying to read the maps or the books, and Mabel soon found that most things in the cupboards were empty.

As more and more time passed, Dipper sighed, growing desperate- this was taking forever.

Soon he felt himself falling back asleep, and his eyes drifted up as he watched the bookshelves and cupboards disappear above into darkness. Then, just as his eyes began to blink shut, he felt something big slam right into his body firmly. Grunting, his eyes fell shut automatically as his vision went black.

 

When they came to- Dipper figured they must've only been out for a minute or two- he looked to his left to see Mabel sitting beside him and looking as baffled as he. Then, Dipper's gaze fell to his surroundings- they seemed to have fallen on a pile of leaves, some vibrant crimson or flaming orange, others sickly yellow or mint green, with sticks and twigs mixed in. Oddly enough, the landing hadn't hurt. But what was odd was...

“Mabel,” Dipper exclaimed, stifling a laugh with his hands, unsteadily clambering to his feet. “You look so-” He couldn't finish his sentence.

Mabel sat up, brushing twigs from her hair. “What, what's wrong?” Then, her hand brushed up against her hat. She froze, then clambered to her feet, an odd look on her face, before she started to crack up unceremoniously with laughter.

Mabel's home-made sweater and pleated skirt were gone, and in their place was what appeared to be a Victorian era outfit- but so much more... colourful. She was wearing a fancy-looking double-breasted magenta jacket, with her sleeves puffy and voluminous at the shoulders and her cuffs crisp and white. She wore a bright orange bowtie over top a frilly ascot of the same colour. Mabel's skirt was short and pleated as before but now a bright turquoise-green, and she wore her normal black shoes- polished to perfection- with lacy white socks. And, most spectacularly, on top of her head sat a large- almost comically so- magenta top hat adorned with a turquoise-green ribbon, tied into a frivolous bow with a playing card neatly tucked in.

Mabel's eyes had bugged out as glanced down at her own clothes, but it was when she looked at Dipper that she herself let out a guffaw.

Dipper opened his mouth, about to question what was so amusing, when he froze. He slowly looked down, and cringed. _I look like a seven-year-old from the 1800s,_ he thought miserably. His comfy t-shirt, vest and shorts had been traded in for a cornflower-blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a white, double-breasted vest with a black bow-tie over top the shirt, and his old-fashioned, puffy shorts revealed long, stripy black-and-white socks that might've been tights (he didn't really want to know). His black shoes were so shiny he could see his reflection in them, and a beige satchel was slung over his shoulder.

“You look so... _cute_!” Mabel managed to squeal through her laughter. “Oh man, I wish I had a camera right now!”

“Like you should talk,” Dipper said defensively, crossing his arms. “You look so... so...”

Mabel shrugged, twirling around and giggling. Dipper wondered how the ginormous hat managed to stay in place. “Hey, I like it! It's a bit weird, but I love the colours, and this hat is so cool! Hey, I wonder if there's a rabbit inside...”

“Normally I'd ask how this happened, but at this point so much weird stuff has happened that I'm just... done. I'm done for today, okay?” Shaking his head, Dipper studied his surroundings- they appeared to be standing at the head of a large, dirt tunnel, and he craned his head up only to see that the hole they had fallen through had... disappeared?

Dipper frowned, before hearing a shuffling noise, as if something small was scuttling through the dried leaves, and then felt something bump into his foot.

Flinching, his head snapped back down. The boy was expecting a small rodent- a rat, most likely- to be lying at his feet, not...

“A book,” He said aloud, bending down to get a closer look.

Hidden amongst the vibrant leaves and knobby twigs there was, indeed, a book. Frowning, he brushed away some stray leaves and picked it up, the book feeling heavy in his hands and distantly familiar. It was periwinkle blue in colour with a cutout of a golden, six-fingered hand on the front, on which the number 1 was printed carefully in black ink. It seemed to be old- the pages were uneven and rough at the edges, he noted as he brushed his fingers along them, and it had a tassel bookmark.

Beside him, Mabel's eyes were fixated on something at the end of the tunnel. “Dipper, look!”

Glancing up, Dipper nearly dropped the book in his hands- the odd rabbit-man from before was at the end of the tunnel, head bowed as he looked at something in his hand that seemed to glint and shine- his pocket-watch from earlier, Dipper guessed. The rabbit-man glanced behind him at the twins, and yelped before scurrying around the corner, his chanting of “oh dear” echoing down the corridor.

Within a second Dipper had hurriedly shoved the battered book in his satchel and the two were pursuing the rabbit man, polished shoes smacking against the dirt ground in unison. Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, they turned around.

Neither of them were quite sure what to expect- more dirt tunnel, perhaps. Certainly not a modern (or at least made-within-the-past-three-hundred-years), low, dimly lit hallway, the linoleum floor black-and-white checkered, like a chessboard. Doors of varying shapes, sizes and colours lined the hall, which seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see.

“Well,” said Dipper. “I guess we'd better start looking.”

 

Ten minutes later, and no luck. Slowly they had made their way down the hall, trying each and every door, even the ones that were far too small to squeeze through- they were all locked.

Dipper sighed, closing his eyes and letting his head fall forward and slam into the toddler-sized door he was crouched in front of. “This is useless,” He muttered. “We're stuck here, stuck here forever and there's no. Way. Out!” Each word was punctuated by him tossing his head forward and banging it into the door.

“ _Dipper_!” Blinking, Dipper turned away from the door, ignoring the pain radiating from his forehead, and found himself squinting to see his sister further down the hall, a splash of colour that could have been mistaken for another door, if not for the comically large top hat perched on her head. “ _Dipper, I think I found something_!” He heard Mabel exclaim, her voice growing closer as she spoke as she presumably made her way towards her brother.

“You found an unlocked door?” Dipper wasted no time in getting to his feet and jogging down the hall, his hatred for his clothing growing steadily with each pretentious click-clack his shoes made against the checkered floor.

“ _Not exactly_!” Dipper heard his sister say, and he frowned in confusion, until he grew nearer. It was...

"A key?" Dipper's face brightened. "A key! Of course! Mabel, you did it! But- where did you even find it?"

Mabel shrugged. "It was on this table-" She gestured behind her and stepped aside, and Dipper now saw an antique-looking table standing a few feet away. She turned the tiny, golden key over in her hands as the two began to wander back down the hall where Dipper had come from.

"How convenient," Dipper mused, before rubbing his hands. "Now, let's start with the doors from the beginning of the hall. How about-" He paused, trying to catch his sister's eye. "Uh, Mabel?"

The brunette had stopped walking and was turned around, gazing past Dipper's face, over his shoulder back down the hall.

"Is it the rabbit guy again?" Dipper persisted.

Mabel shook her head. "No, no, I just..." She trailed off, and, with the key in her hands, jogged past Dipper, and knelt down at the wall.

Dipper turned around and began to walk after her. "Mabel, what-" He stopped as she saw what she was crouched in front of- a small, red velvet curtain that, when she pulled it aside, was revealed to be concealing a door about fifteen inches high.

"Uh, Mabel, what are you doing?" Dipper asked as Mabel raised the key to the door. "Are you sure-"

She turned the key with a click and the door swung open to reveal a passage about the size of a rat-hole. She let out a gasp. "Dipper, come see this!"

Dipper knelt down beside his sister, and the twins awkwardly squished their heads together to look through- and even Dipper had to admit the view was impressive. They could see a miniature garden, with fountains and flowering bushes and cobblestone paths.

The twins pulled their heads back. Mabel looked at her brother seriously. "We have to go in there."

Dipper looked at her doubtfully. "Mabel, are you seeing that thing? I don't think I could even get my hand through there."

"It was the first door we tried, and it fit!" Mabel insisted. "That can't be a coincidence. Plus it was behind a curtain- that must mean it's special or something! Plus.... I dunno, I just think that's the one."

"Mabel." Dipper's eyebrows were nearly at his hairline. "That is all very nice. But it's still too small."

Mabel frowned. "If only we were smaller." She grumbled, standing up with her twin and handing him the key. "I really thought-" The two turned around as she spoke, and their jaws dropped.

The formerly bare table now had a small, glass bottle placed on it- it contained a shimmery, pale yellow liquid of sorts that bubbled and fizzed in its container. Around the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words ' _DRINK ME_ ' printed carefully on it in curly handwriting.

The twins looked at each other. “Yeah, nope. This is weird.” Dipper remarked, studying the bottle. “This is weird, right? Pretty sure this is the kind of thing they warn kids not to do in school."

Mabel frowned, looking exasperated as she crossed her arms. “Dipper, we just followed a rabbit man down a giant tunnel and woke up wearing weird clothes from the 1800s. Everything's weird- just roll with it.”

Dipper sighed, secretly agreeing with his sister- at this point he was pretty much convinced that this was all a dream, anyways. “Well, you go ahead and try it, but don't blame me if your tongue falls off or something." Setting the key down on the table, he watched Mabel yank the cork out of the strange bottle and gulp down half, wipe it off, then hand it to him. She looked at him expectantly.

Dipper sighed, before he hesitantly took a small sip, waited for a moment, then drank the rest- it tasted a bit like buttered toast, he remarked to himself.

Not even a second after he set the bottle down, Mabel began to shrink.

“ _Whoa_!” She exclaimed, flailing her arms, before disappearing before Dipper's eyes. He felt his body seize up in panic, before he knelt down and sighed in relief- he could see Mabel, now only slightly bigger than an ant, standing on the floor. Mabel looked up at him and opened her mouth, but he could barely hear her. Dipper blinked, then was overcome with a falling sensation.

“ _Holy_ -” He yelled, almost falling over- he was shrinking, and _very_ quickly. He closed his eyes, trying to quell the sudden onset of nausea. When he opened them, he was standing in front of his sister.

He then came to two realizations: one, if there were any rats around here they would be in big trouble. Two, he had left the key on the table.

Dipper groaned, holding a hand to his forehead. “Mabel, the key.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.” Then, she grinned, as if she'd had a brilliant idea. “Wait a sec.”

“Wait, what are you-” Suddenly, Mabel whipped off her hat, reached inside and pulled out- her grappling hook?

“Grappling hook!” The girl exclaimed before shooting up into the air, clinging to the grappling hook with one hand and gripping the brim of her oversized hat with the other.

Dipper muttered as he looked upwards, “Yeah, this is definitely a dream."

A moment later Mabel was standing beside him once again, grinning triumphantly with the golden key- now normal-sized- clasped in her hand. “ _Shalleth we goeth then, brother deareth_?” She said in an exaggerated English accent, offering her arm with a curtsy.

Dipper rolled his eyes, but reluctantly linked their arms together- his sister was the only normal- well, relatively normal- thing around her, and he wanted to make sure they stuck together. “Alright, let's go.”

Together, they stepped through the doorway and into the garden.


End file.
